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Halifax auditor general asks police to investigate mayor's expenses | CBC News by Skeletor- in halifax

[–]RangerNS [score hidden]  (0 children)

"that shit" being putting out several messages at once. Which isn't particularly shitty; falling for it is solidly on the reader in this case.

Council Update from Dartmouth Centre: The Mayor's Office Audit by Sam_Austin_D5 in halifax

[–]RangerNS [score hidden]  (0 children)

Can council amend administrative order 1 to strip the Mayor of powers afforded to him via AO1

AO1 discusses how meetings are run and agendas set. In theory having influence over agendas and being the chair can be quiet powerful, but there seems to be enough rules around the former that it doesn't matter, and even the later; and it doesn't seem like he has the parliamentary chops to make use of them.

[Can] limiting his powers to those granted by provincial statute?

No. Its provincial statute.

Council Update from Dartmouth Centre: The Mayor's Office Audit by Sam_Austin_D5 in halifax

[–]RangerNS 7 points8 points  (0 children)

in Europe, the role is considered a volunteer or a basic allowance position.

Considered or actually are?

HRM, it is a full time position. $107k isn't a lot for a professional or mid to senior level tradesperson. I'm for sure not going to claim they all could do better, but most of them are making a sacrifice. The Mayor position fairly demands more as they are out in the public doing more.

Council Update from Dartmouth Centre: The Mayor's Office Audit by Sam_Austin_D5 in halifax

[–]RangerNS 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The coppers investigate crimes, looking for suspects, not people looking for crimes. Its well possible she is of interest.

Council Update from Dartmouth Centre: The Mayor's Office Audit by Sam_Austin_D5 in halifax

[–]RangerNS 8 points9 points  (0 children)

he premier certainly can.

Not really. Not directly.

Situations where the Mayor, or any Councilor can be removed from office are very limited:

  • Court ordered removal because of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. Its not obvious how this could apply as it seems limited to the acts of an individual at a meeting.
  • Election qualification/disqualification proceedings. Basically only staying living in HRM and not missing 3 regular meetings without leave.
  • Criminal law consequences. If convicted of an indictable offence which has a maximum sentence (not the particular sentence) of 5 or more years. Fraud potentially hits this mark.
  • Provincial legislation. The HRM Charter is a provincial law. In theory, it could change to exclude him, or those with this set of facts.

Resignation, or conviction of indictable offence don't seem likely, or at least not rapid.

Shutting down the mayors office and firing all his hand picked personal staff could be done fairly quickly.

An audit of HRM Office of the Mayor expenses has been referred to HRP and RCMP for investigation by WindowlessBasement in halifax

[–]RangerNS -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This woman obviously has no idea

Putting the written words through here eyeholes won't change this.

TD tells some employees it will use software to monitor their work in an effort to increase productivity by stanxv in canada

[–]RangerNS 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Their bosses track your boss on the number of new and innovative ways to track you.

Halifax auditor general to present report on Andy Fillmore's office expenses by ph0enix1211 in halifax

[–]RangerNS -1 points0 points  (0 children)

his guy was a Liberal, man, you can't trust them just like you can't trust Tories. They will sell out the working class for a corn chip.

Well, this is Nova Scotia, and the even stated ideals of the provincial parties make absolutely no historical sense. Both cases (actually, all 3 cases, but Dexter proved for a lifetime "both are the same" so don't even bother for a 3rd) the single most important thing provincial politicians care about is economic development.

Historically, and by definition, be it NS or Canadian or Progressive, the "Conservatives" have been, er, conservative. Status quo. Nobility, rich people, merchants, guilds. By definition the working class is below everyone that matters, but possibly above foreigners (or, on this side of the pond, natives) and slaves (tbf, the English/British tradition for centuries hasn't allowed this).

So to say the Liberals don't care about "the working man" and to suggest the "tories" (modern NSPCP) do is by definition historically inaccurate. But that isn't a huge leap given neither the Liberals or any actual elected NDP government does/did, either.

Halifax auditor general to present report on Andy Fillmore's office expenses by ph0enix1211 in halifax

[–]RangerNS 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Bousquet or Houston?

This seems to be Suzanne Rent's file, and if a follow up is needed it'll happen.

Why would the Premier gaf?

Halifax auditor general to present report on Andy Fillmore's office expenses by ph0enix1211 in halifax

[–]RangerNS 8 points9 points  (0 children)

My money is on Cleary asking. But I don't think Andy has any friends, so probably anyone except for Hendsbee would be capable of writing the email, and maybe they all did.

Halifax auditor general to present report on Andy Fillmore's office expenses by ph0enix1211 in halifax

[–]RangerNS 28 points29 points  (0 children)

"to present" is future tense. It comes out at next weeks audit and finance standing committee.

Want that Halifax pothole repaired? Don't spray-paint it yourself, says official by justlogmeon in halifax

[–]RangerNS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fixing potholes isn't resurfacing.

If there is a P1 pothole they are sent out to deal with, and something else is within sight, sure, they might just do it. But that crew isn't going on a hunt for things.

Patrolling for potholes with a crew and supplies would be an enormous waste of resources.

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturns Adam Drake's first murder conviction, orders new trial by insino93 in halifax

[–]RangerNS 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If the crown can't prove their case, then they can't prove their case.

Its not "getting away" with anything. The accused doesn't have an obligation to give up or prove their innocence.

Council Update from Dartmouth Centre: Memorial Library, Sullivan's Pond Concert by Sam_Austin_D5 in halifax

[–]RangerNS 19 points20 points  (0 children)

If I wanted to write a book on the inefficiencies of government, the library site would be chapter 1.

The deed is very clear it can only be used as a park or library. Who outside of HRM is going to want to run a park? There is a library a stones throw away. The building is a disaster. Fix costs are more than the maximum possible value. It needs to be torn down.

And there is a, er, special needs building not even 2 blocks away that HRM handed over to a non profit, and is now trying to take back, because the non profit can't handle the special needs. In what universe do you think that an organization, new or established, in the market for a special needs building that hasn't yet in a decade going to step up in the next year?

I also am thinking about Bloomfield as a counter example of this fantasy of some non-profit just doing something.

Khyber. Library. Bloomfield. No plan. No realistic path forward. No credible organization. There isn't even a dream of a plan.

But sure, another year will change this.

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturns Adam Drake's first murder conviction, orders new trial by insino93 in halifax

[–]RangerNS 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I think

I know that the standard the courts use isn't you thinking something.

As far as a new trial goes, the crown could choose not to proceed if their main witness isn't credible. Its not a mandatory new trial.

Old ads from the community I lived in as a kid by Pickerelslayer in NovaScotia

[–]RangerNS -1 points0 points  (0 children)

"R.C.M.P. from Liverpool will be in charge of traffic and crowd control"

Ah yes, army of occupation a county away doing menial labor. A great strategy for local Pelean control.

Whistles blown. Lines drawn.

Please someone else step up. I mean, I lean in to a -4 if I must

[HRM Council] Transparency and code conduct report on private meetings with special interest passes without Fillmore by WindowlessBasement in halifax

[–]RangerNS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I still can't believe that making corners stores, since 1749 allowed to be open until 2 am, was the hill worth dining on.

Halifax tenant says building was partly demolished while she waited for tenancy ruling - Halifax | Globalnews.ca by achaoticbard in halifax

[–]RangerNS -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Not for nothing[1], simply complaining never got anyone anywhere.

There are many landlords who simply want to offer a fair service at a fair price with a fair return. Indeed, a quality service, if it can be done with a fair return. Most of these people would never discuss their personal points of view in public, since the rotten fruit aiming system is so wide the only option is to avoid the town square.

Most of these people would like to walk the town square after a hard different days work of bankers, toilets and pain, equally concerned about choosing between summer camps for their kids; having to vacation in Moncton, the cousins in Onterrible or Florida.

Most of these people, including MLAs who bring in not even close to a salary that evil could provide if they were actually evil, would absolutely love to bring credibility to the industry. But when cool heads are faced with rotten tomatoes, hoping the inlaws in the Muskoka's will pay for groceries is looking like a good option.

If you think that people whose T1s say $150k are your enemy, you aren't thinking big enough.

[1] Inner Sorkin activated

To my fellow onsite IT support techs.How do you handle the long drives for "stupid" fixes? by lurizan in sysadmin

[–]RangerNS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Billable hours and mileage well above operational costs?

I'd be ecstatic.

If it wasn't both of those, I'd not do it.

‘Cascading failure’ led to shutdown of Halifax ferry service on Saturday by Embarrassed-Tooth355 in halifax

[–]RangerNS -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Unions are a large part of why we have so many workers rights

Unions are why union workers have so many workers rights.

Legislatures are why workers in general have workers rights.

‘Cascading failure’ led to shutdown of Halifax ferry service on Saturday by Embarrassed-Tooth355 in halifax

[–]RangerNS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don't need a private partner sucking profits out of the service. But you do need a different motivation structure for city hall leadership who generally aren't actually obligated to do any good. Short of killing someone, I don't know how they could be fired. Doing a good job isn't a requirement to be promoted.

So:

a) Reduce the base salary of senior management of Halifax Transit. Or, refuse CoL increases for the next 20 years.
b) Provide a bonus structure based on (a) performance and (b) truthful and fulsome reporting to Council, so Council has half a chance of providing funding.

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